Head of Research ServicesJ.D., University of California at Berkeley School of Law, 1985M.L.S., University of California at Berkeley, 1980B.A., Wesleyan University, 1977

Kent Olson directs the library's reference, research, and instruction services for faculty and students and teaches Advanced Legal Research. He earned his B.A. in art history from Wesleyan University and his M.L.S. from the University of California, Berkeley, and then worked as a librarian for Fordham University at Lincoln Center before attending the University of Minnesota School of Law and the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California. He joined the Law Library in 1985.

Olson has written several texts on legal research, most recently Legal Research in a Nutshell and Principles of Legal Research, which won the American Association of Law Libraries' annual Joseph L. Andrews Bibliographical Award, recognizing "a significant contribution to legal bibliographical literature." His earlier book Legal Information: How to Find It, How to Use It also won the Andrews Award, and was selected as one of Library Journal’s Best Reference Sources in 1999.
Olson's work has also appeared in several journals, including Green Bag, Law Library Journal, Legal Reference Services Quarterly and Virginia Lawyer.